Hombre/Man.

I am a man.

There is Desperation

There is Hunger

There is Desolation.


I am a man.

Not a problem.

You ask why we come

But you don't want to know.

You don't listen and don't care.


I am a man.

Not an alien.

Beneath this brown skin

There is Humanity.

I am a man.

Not a miracle worker.

My children are hungry.

My children are barefoot

My children are naked

My fields are bare.

We need milk

We need bread

We need help.

None comes.

You are deaf to our cries.

You are blind to our plight.

You are silent.

I am a man.

Not a liability.

I am a last resort

I'm left no choice

I left to find work

My wife stayed behind

Praying I made it across

That money be sent

That our lives be saved

So

Our children can eat

Our children can grow

Our children can be clothed

Our children can learn



I am a man.

Not a terrorist.

I don't want to make trouble.

I don't want to be here

But I don't have a choice.


I am a man.

Not a vagabond.

My home is far away

But always in my heart



I am a man.

If you were a man

And you had to look in your child's eyes

And you had to see how gaunt, how thin ---

Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same.

I am a man.

You Americans have dreams.

So do I.

Daily, you are given opportunities

I make my own.

I am a man.

I dream my children will not starve.

I dream of happiness.

I had to come here to find it.



I am a man.

Not a camel.

I survived the desert,

I crossed it on foot.

I crossed hell itself for my family

I lived to tell the tale

And because I came here

You're going to throw me in jail?

It doesn't make sense.

I don't understand why.

Why send me back?

I am a man.

Not a criminal.



I am a man.

Not a thief.

I never stole your job.

Name one American who

strives to pick cotton.

Name one American whose

goal it is to pick tomatoes in the fields.

Name one American who would do it.

No American today tells his child

Someday you will be a migrant worker.


I am a man.

Not a beggar.

You need me as much as I need you.
Without me

Your toilets won't be cleaned

Your bed won't be made

And your kids won't be watched.

your crops will rot in the fields

Hard work will go undone.

I am a man.

Not a dog



I am a man.

Not a threat.

Desperation

Made me do what I must

Don't make it harder than it must be.

To hell with your politicking

I don't have time to explain myself

I don't have the luxury.

I am a man

Not an issue.

Just let me work.

The job needs to be done.

My wife

My kids

My home

Depends on it.

My life depends on it.



I am a man.

Not a liar.

If I fail

A promise unfulfilled

Starvation

Death

I have nothing…

So there is nothing to lose

Except everything.


I am a man.

I want what a man wants…

To provide

To live.

To love.

To be a man.



I am a man.

I'm not a stupid spic,

a wetback

a greaser

or a beaner



I am a man.

Treat me like one.